Too Hot to Handle by Aleah Barley Read Free Book Online

hell?
    “What are you looking at?” she demanded. “Is there a spider on my boob?
    “No spider, just your T-shirt.”
    “It’s a uniform shirt.” Honey let go of the gun with one hand to tug self-consciously at the shirt’s neckline. “I wear it when I’m passing drinks for my Uncle Mike.”
    “I like the color.”
    “Sure.” The shirt was white. The neckline was rounded and low, revealing more than she cared to show on a sunny morning. Two words were emblazoned across her chest: “Drink Moore.”
    Blood rushed to her face, making her cheeks hot. The shirt was one of her favorites. She’d always thought of it as slightly naughty, but the way Jack was staring at her made her feel obscene. Not entirely in a bad way.
    “What do you want?”
    “For you to take off your shirt.”
    For a moment, she thought he was serious. Then he shook his head, the sudden motion indicating a change in topic. “What’s under the house, Honey?”
    “You really want to know?”
    “That’s why I asked.”
    “I was checking for structural damage.” Confidence was the key to any good lie, and there was no way she could tell Jack the truth. The safe had survived for more than twenty years, preserving its secrets from feral cats, burglars, and multiple police raids. She wasn’t about to give it up now. Not even to Jack.
    The items she’d pulled out of it didn’t look dangerous, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be used to send a friend of hers to prison for life. And the envelope—well, she didn’t know what to think about that. She needed to make a closer inspection of it without a detective breathing down her neck.
    “I’d appreciate your opinion if you think you can fit down there,” she added.
    “I’ll take your word for it.” Jack shifted forward slightly. “I saw inside. The place looks like a war zone. Someone doesn’t like you very much.”
    “I can take care of myself.”
    “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
    “How did you find me?” In all the years they’d known each other, he’d only been to her house once before—the night they’d snuck into the movies.
    He’d been sixteen for all of two days, still getting used to the Super Bee’s power. The car had stalled twice on the way to the drive-in, and they’d arrived too late to park inside. That hadn’t stopped them from seeing the movie. He’d given her a boost while she climbed over the fence.
    As far as she knew, it was the only time in his life he’d broken the rules, and he’d done it because she’d asked.
    “What are you doing here, Jack?”
    “I came for my gun.” He smiled. “You know how to use that thing?”
    Her body was beginning to shake. She bit her lip, forcing herself to remain still. Her arms straightened, regaining that perfect shooting position. “I can hit a bottle at forty paces.”
    “Bottles are good practice, but it’s not like hitting a man. Sending your bullet into his flesh. The distance we’re standing, my blood would spray all over you.” He gave her a long, appraising look. “I don’t think you could do it.”
    “My soft heart will be the death of me.”
    “You just don’t want to go back to jail.”
    Here she was pointing a gun at his chest, and he was treating her like some kind of joke.
    Damn him for not respecting her enough to think she was a threat, and damn him for not trusting her. Damn him for making her life harder when all she needed was help.
    Everything was happening too fast, and it was too much. She couldn’t deal with Jack on top of everything else, not with the burned-out shell of her house only a few feet away.
    Tears began to roll down her face. She bit her lip to keep from crying out audibly, but it was already too late. A cruel sob exploded from her throat, making her entire body shake.
    “Damn you.”
    “It’s all right, Honey.” He was trying to be reassuring, but his voice sounded rough and abrasive. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
    He took a quick step forward,